On universal relief

Aside from the usual mantra that "NDP = CPC!", one of the most regularly-repeated Lib talking points criticizing the NDP's work trying to get coronavirus relief to all Canadians has been to point out that there's no single source of information available which contains the list of everybody who might receive help.

So let's talk about the real choices involved - and why the Libs' position pointing to the lack of a single source of information as a basis for limiting substantive relief is ultimately indefensible.

One of the core questions involved in any relief effort is its scope: whether the goal should be to include everybody in emergency funding, or to means-test and otherwise target what's going out. And the "not everybody's in the database!" talking point serves primarily as an excuse for saying we have no choice but to pursue the latter option.

Which, to put it simply, is asinine. If the best-case scenario is to reach 100% of the population, we're far better off starting with the best source of information available and adding recipients from there to fill in the gap, rather than starting from zero.

And that goes doubly given the obvious risks of setting up an application process outside or beyond the scope of anything else under federal jurisdiction.

The federal government has already shifted responsibility for its individual benefit away from EI after recognizing the current system wasn't set up to handle the previous iteration. But that means access to the core funding intended to keep Canadians afloat through a public health emergency will be running through a completely new and untested system. (Needless to say, the experience of federal civil servants with Phoenix should serve as a giant red flag on that front.)

So what's the effect on people in line to receive the benefit? Let's compare the Libs' scheme to an automatic helicopter drop to all Canadians in (say) the CRA's database.

For people already in the system, the Libs' scheme imposes unnecessary costs in time and effort on both the individuals applying, and the new mechanism set up to receive the applications. (And as many have pointed out, anybody who doesn't need the help can simply be taxed back next year when the system isn't so overwhelmed.)

And even for people left out of current information sources, a system of paying by default would be helpful. If you're going to need to apply to a new federal bureaucracy for benefits either way, surely it would be better to be among a relatively small number of people required to do so, rather than potentially getting stuck at the back of a backlog as millions of applications converge on the same system.

In sum, the lack of a complete list of people needing benefits doesn't represent a valid excuse for imposing either means-testing or mandatory registration under circumstances where it's possible to help people faster and more efficiently. And the people who left waiting for their emergency help will have reason to remember who's chosen to put barriers in their way.

Saturday Morning Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Derek Thompson reports on Denmark's wage subsidies which are finally being mimicked by other countries including Canada. And Duncan Cameron points out how the Libs' early response fell far short of the mark.

- Rachel Giese points out how the coronavirus response shows the ability of governments to deploy resources to meet basic needs when they're motivated enough to do so.

- Mindy Isser discusses how a pandemic is showing everybody who's actually needed as between the wealthy few and the service workers who keep our essential supports running. But Alexander Panetta observes that a crisis is only emphasizing and deepening the class divide.

- Anthony Morgan discusses how incarcerated people are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases. And Samantha Michaels writes about the spread of COVID-19 through Rikers Island, while Kendall Latimer, Dan Zakreski and Creeden Martell report on the first apparent cases among Saskatchewan correctional workers.

- Aaron Saltzman notes that deferred mortgage payments under the privately-controlled model set up by the Libs may carry large costs, with the bank standing to benefit as a result.

- Finally, PressProgress highlights how Jason Kenney attempted to demonize renters as an excuse for refusing to provide protection against evictions.

Musical interlude

Vivienne Wilder - Never Lovers

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- Brendan Kennedy reports on the massive job losses being caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Andrew Jackson offers his suggestions to provide immediate help to workers facing that urgent crisis today, while also laying the groundwork for a transition to a clean economy once we're able to start rebuilding. And Angella MacEwen highlights the need for a rescue package to be based on both speed and responsiveness to gaps in coverage.

- Ricardo Tranjan examines the financial insecurity facing people who are being told their rent obligations and other expenses aren't going away even after their incomes have disappeared. And Heather Scoffield argues that the federal government needs to step up in ensuring that renters aren't left out in the cold. 

- Maureen Callahan discusses the class implications of COVID-19 in the Hamptons.  Polly Toynbee observes that an economic collapse is forcing the middle class to confront a decimated social safety net. And Nick Shaxson writes that tax justice needs to be taken into account in designing and funding our recovery. 

- Jerome Roos weighs in on the need to deal with the massive piles of debt accumulated even before the pandemic.

- Gillian Steward writes that Alberta's relative success in responding to the coronavirus can be traced to the public health care system which Jason Kenney is so determined to dismantle.

- Finally, Tammy Robert calls out Scott Moe and the Saskatchewan Party for delaying public information about the spread of COVID-19 in order to frame their partial budget announcement.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

Lounging cat.

Conventional Wisdom!

Deathly serious? Or downright hilarious? It would be rude to suggest the Saskatchewan Party government should be able to appropriately classify a pandemic.

Meanwhile, Scott Moe's entire economic plan for both the pandemic and recovery consists once again of having the federal government absorb the liabilities of the oil sector, with no mention of any other workers. But since we've heard so much about Moe's studiousness, that's presumably for entirely valid public health reasons, such as [INSERT CAPP TALKING POINT HERE].

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Kenan Malik discusses how the coronavirus pandemic has exposed the fragility of the UK's social and economic structures:

The economic burden imposed by the policy of social distancing has fallen most upon the poorest and the lowest paid, many of whom cannot work from home and have few savings on which to fall back. In response, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, unveiled on Friday a major package of measures, including grants to businesses covering up to 80% of employees’ wages, and increases to universal credit and working tax credits.

The measures are significant, necessary and welcome. There are holes in the package, especially for renters and the self-employed. Nevertheless, Sunak was right to call it “unprecedented”. But it also raises the question: why does it require a pandemic for the needs of low-paid and insecure workers to be taken seriously?
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Coronavirus has exposed the fragility of social life. It has revealed, too, that a large measure of that fragility is the result not of the pandemic, or of the attempt to combat it, but rather has been built into the system through deliberate policy. The worry is that beyond the pandemic, and the temporary measures announced by the chancellor, the issues of poverty and inequality will once more be ignored.

The 2008 financial crisis was resolved with vast amounts of public cash. And then the public was made to pay for that generosity with a decade of austerity. We may need to do “whatever it takes” to bring the pandemic under control. But once it is under control, will we also then do whatever it takes to deal with low pay, insecure work and inadequate benefits?

- Sarah Jones weighs in on what the pandemic is telling us about which work is truly skilled and essential. And Robert Reich writes about the corporations exploiting COVID-19 to seek bailouts and preferential treatment while extracting even more concessions from workers and consumers. 

- Geoff Dembicki discusses some needed calls for the federal goverment to focus on helping workers, rather than subsidizing a dying oil sector. But Robert Fife, Emma Graney and Kelly Cryderman report on the Trudeau Libs' plan to funnel money toward fossil fuel operators while continuing the limited and delayed availability of help for workers. And Geoffrey Munson reports on Alberta's simultaneous decision to pay bills and assume liabilities only on behalf of the oil patch, even as public services and other industries face cuts on top of the pandemic.

- PressProgress exposes the grossly deficient response to COVID-19 in an oil field work camp. And Bryan Eneas reports on the City of Regina's belated recognition that the CCRL refinery's scab camp is creating glaring public health risks.

- Finally, Andre Picard is the latest to highlight the need for testing and tracing to accompany social distancing as part of our public health response to COVID-19.

On spin over substance

PressProgress is right to point out how many landlords are using the loud announcement of coronavirus relief - which, if you read the small print, won't be available for months - as an excuse to keep charging rent as of April 1. (Not to mention to attempt to pressure tenants out of their homes when they're unable to work due to a public health emergency.)

But it's worth noting that the same dynamic applies in the opposite direction as well. The financial sector and federal government have made a show of announcing "mortgage relief", which would suggest a widespread system of savings in the cost of housing ownership which could be passed on to renters. They haven't been so vocal about that claim hiding a cumbersome and confusing process which is ultimately designed to keep power and financial reward in the hands of the banks.

In both cases, the headline fails to reflect the limitations of the government's actual policy. And the result is to set up obvious potential for finger-pointing between parties who wrongly think the other has been bailed out - leading to both an erosion of trust, and readily-avoidable policy failures.

But there are a couple of necessary changes which can be made to avoid similar difficulties. First, we should expect our governments to take an all-of-the-above approach to getting help to Canadians immediately, rather than looking for excuses to minimize the effect of announcements. And second, we should demand they recognize that (even more than usual) lives are at stake when their talking points fall short of their actions.

Conventional Wisdom!

A public health emergency demands that we unite mindlessly behind the government which deliberately mocked it, utterly failed to prepare us, and is now prohibiting anybody from taking stronger action.

Sunday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Sunday reading.

- Eric Doherty, and Eric Galbraith and Ross Otto, respectively write that the response to the coronavirus shows how it's possible to imagine and implement needed changes along the lines of a Green New Deal. And Heather Mallick theorizes that it can also be a first step toward living more intelligently.

- The Star's editorial board points out how the pandemic has shown gaping holes in our existing social safety net, while Martin Regg Cohn writes that many people are just now learning how precarious much work has become. And Justin Ling rightly criticizes how marginalized people including prisoners and asylum seekers are being endangered by the Libs' choices.

- Jim Stanford writes that what's needed for the future goes far beyond mere stimulus:

There is enormous need for urgent rebuilding required in our economy and our communities. Repairing and strengthening health care infrastructure comes first, but other priorities, too, are urgent: like sustainable transit, green energy, non-market housing, aged care and early child education.

The case for mobilising resources under the leadership of governments and public institutions, and employing millions of Australians to do that work, is compelling. We can repair the damage of this crisis (and better prepare for the next one), deliver valuable services, and create millions of jobs. All we need is the willingness to imagine a different model of organizing and leading economic activity.
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The failure of financialized, neoliberal capitalism will be laid bare more clearly than ever in coming months. The private sector will definitely be unable to get the economy back on its feet after this crisis. So we need to look elsewhere for economic leadership.

Just as World War II ‘solved’ the Great Depression by mobilizing enormous resources in an urgent attempt to meet a huge threat (global fascism), we now need another, peaceful war – a war on poverty, on epidemics, and on pollution.

And by organizing ourselves as society to fight that war, we will actually make ourselves better off right now: creating jobs and incomes, providing needed care and services, generating taxes. And we will benefit in the long-run by winning those ‘wars,’ and building a safer, sustainable world.

- Finally, Anna Stansbury and Lawrence Summers examine the connection between a decline in worker bargaining power and the erosion of the U.S.' economic performance. And Thomas Piketty highlights how Bernie Sanders' campaign is making a desperately-needed attempt to give the U.S.' democracy a boost.

Saturday Afternoon Links

Assorted content for your weekend reading.

- Adam Tooze writes that the coronavirus pandemic has offered a reminder that the economy (particularly defined in terms of shareholders' interests) can't be given priority over human survival and well-being.

- John Daley discusses three possible options in responding to the coronavirus - and makes the case for a "stop then restart" plan. And Yishan Wong and Lauren Pelley and Adam Miller highlight the need to at least ensure universal testing and tracking, rather than hoping for uninformed choices to control the virus' spread.

- Omar Mosleh highlights how the pandemic is proving particularly devastating for people already living with severe financial and environmental stressors. John Stapleton reminds us that support for the poor is a matter of life and death - and even more so in the midst of a public health crisis. And Manny Fernandez examines the plight of Americans trying to survive as a lockdown and loss of income is stacked on top of existing poverty and deprivation.

- Shawn Vulliez makes the case to suspend the payment of rent while the crisis is in effect, while Iglika Ivanova offers some suggestions as to what needs to follow the first wave of federal announcements. And Johnna Montgomerie writes about the debt emergency which will need to be addressed. 

- Finally, both Don Pittis and Jamelle Bouie write that the pandemic should be reminding us of the importance of effective government. But Scott Schmidt warns that we need to be prepared to push back against Jason Kenney and other reactionary leaders trying to impose further austerity. And Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Annie Karni expose how the Trump administration is trying to impose anti-social Republican policies while the public is distracted.

Musical interlude

Cake - Sinking Ship

Friday Afternoon Links

Assorted content to end your week.

- Mike Konczal offers (PDF) a framework for responding to the coronavirus pandemic from a U.S. perspective. And the CCPA is providing ample analysis of the economic and social impacts of COVID-19.

- Dakshana Bascaramurty discusses how the pandemic is revealing and exacerbating Canada's class divide. And Shree Paradkar points out the difference in government reaction depending on the identity of the lives at risk.

- Michael Laxer notes that hoarding and panic buying are fully predictable within a capitalist economic framework. And Lee Fang exposes how Wall Street is putting pressure on medical suppliers to profiteer as a result of the crisis.

- James Meadway observes the need for an anti-wartime mindset which treats demobilization as the top priority. 

- Anne Gaviola makes the case for a national rent freeze to ensure that precarious housing doesn't exacerbate a public health emergency. And Nick Falvo examines the sorry state of housing policy in Canada in advance of the federal budget.

- Finally, Helen Lewis and Moira Wyton both point out how women are struggling with disproportionate burdens in the face of the pandemic.

Civility Police, Arrest This Man

Sure, it's common knowledge (at least among those not politically motivated to the contrary) that supervised consumption sites save lives.

And it's true that it's a matter of government choice whether those sites get funded.

But that doesn't mean we can abide anybody pointing out that life-and-death choices - and a leader's history in making them - represent a valid consideration in evaluating that leader's fitness. Because connecting the dots would be uncivilized.

On safety concerns

One of the great mysteries of Scott Moe’s tenure in power is how he’s evaded scrutiny for a personal track record which has demonstrated a gross lack of judgment - including getting convicted of impaired driving, causing a separate accident which killed another person, and filing for bankruptcy.

In the Saskatchewan Party’s leadership campaign, Moe managed to stay just below front-runner status which might have caused competitors to focus more on his weaknesses. And since he took power, the NDP has understandably focused on the many problems with what Moe’s government has been doing more while in office, rather than his past personal actions.

To be sure, it’s a noble impulse to presume that people can overcome and learn from their past tragedies. But there comes a point where we need to ask whether somebody is repeating the patterns which caused them to happen.

And in Moe’s case, the answer is alarming.

Moe offered a brief media tour when his fatal car crash was raised during the course of the Saskatchewan Party leadership campaign. And his responses then are telling today.

While Moe acknowledged the collision, he avoided humanizing the victim (phrasing his descriptions along the lines of “there was a fatality”). And he's equally plainly dodged any self-awareness or responsibility - recognizing that the RCMP’s investigation determined that he drove unsafely, but portraying the crash as a mere matter of whether he proceeded “a few moments earlier, a few moments later”, rather than something for which he bore any fault.

Moe’s pattern of barrelling ahead with insufficient regard for the safety of himself or others has followed him into power. And now, it’s set the tone for his government.

It would have been telling enough for Moe to pursue a snap spring election at the best of times. Even leaving aside the lack of ethics involved in manipulating a fixed election date for partisan advantage, Canadian political history is rife with leaders who received a rude awakening after indulging in enough hubris to believe that an unnecessary early election was the road to holding power indefinitely.

Even worse, though, Moe was positively gleeful in taunting the NDP and the province about calling an election at a time when any avoidable person-to-person contact exacerbates the risks of a public health emergency - while his party also mocked the NDP's well-founded efforts to point out how dangerous that would have been.

Having reluctantly ruled out the snap election plan (while again refusing to admit he could possibly have been in the wrong), Moe has continued to demonstrate a glaring lack of attention to dangerous driving conditions, insisting on presenting budget documentation for political consumption long after anybody could possibly think it bore any resemblance to reality. It was only this week that he finally and farcically decided to erase the revenue side of the ledger altogether from a spending plan - which figures to allow his party to advertise its election platform on the public dime.

That’s all consistent with the Saskatchewan Party's political strategy of making loud announcements, spending millions of corporate dollars on slanderous attack ads, and hoping to have people make surface judgments based on a lack of information. (And if Moe had been able to get his way, an election held during a pandemic might well have helped in creating that political environment.)

And the problem goes far beyond Moe himself: as he's set the example, his passengers in cabinet have chosen to egg him on. Gord Wyant has taken to shouting insults at any passer-by brazen enough to suggest that Moe keep his eyes on the road; Don Morgan and Jim Reiter have gone out of their way to moon Meili and the NDP, rather than focusing on some of the most important cabinet roles in a public health crisis.

The end result is that Moe’s reckless joyride is endangering everybody in Saskatchewan. And as a province, we need to ask how many people have to get killed by our premier’s unsafe driving before we finally wrestle the keys away.

Thursday Afternoon Links

This and that for your Thursday reading.

- Frances Woolley points out how the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the effects of decades of austerity on Canada's health care system. Martin Regg Cohn discusses how the spread of the coronavirus is requiring us to seriously rethink how much of our society and economy are set up. And George Eaton highlights how COVID-19 has offered a reminder of the unique power of government to act in the social interest, while Mariana Mazzucato offers some suggestions as to how the coronavirus response can help us restore democratic governments to a lead role in shaping the economy.

- The ILO highlights the brutal impact of the pandemic on workers, while Jim Stanford points out how it has exposed the undervaluing of the people who are now ensuring the continued provision of the necessities of life even as much of our economy shuts down. Evelyn Kwong reports on the workers who are being forced to keep putting themselves and their loved ones at risk by employer demands. And both Reid Rusonik and Rebecca Long-Bailey discuss the need for a basic income to ensure personal security.

- Both Stanford and David Macdonald examine the response so far from Canada's federal government, including how it falls short both of covering all the people who need help and distributing benefits fast enough to deal with immediate needs.

- Andrew Nikiforuk offers his advice as to be an engaged citizen - rather than a selfish consumer - in a public health emergency.

- Finally, Craig Altemose examines how things would be different if we responded to the slower-moving but equally-dangerous climate crisis with the same urgency as the coronavirus. Jeff Sparrow discusses the irreconcilable conflict between growth and environmental limitations which can be seen in both crises. Kate Aronoff points out the value in making green jobs the focus of our rebuilding after the coronavirus recession. And Jason Hickel argues that a transition to a clean economy offers an opportunity to refocus on quality of life rather than GDP.

Wednesday Afternoon Links

Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading.

- David Roberts points out that the coronavirus has rendered it imperative to provide supports for people faced with circumstances beyond their control. And Tess Kalinowski and Laurie Monsebraaten report on the community service providers trying to ensure people's basic needs are met in the midst of a pandemic.

- Duncan Cameron discusses how COVID-19 is exposing fissures within Canada, while Doug Cuthand notes that First Nations will be particularly vulnerable to its effects.

- Eric Klinenberg writes that our response to the coronavirus needs to include social solidarity, not merely physical distancing. And Kirstie Brewer assembles some mental health tips to help through a period of social isolation.

- Stephanie Wood reports on the ten-figure liabilities facing B.C.'s public for mine cleanup and reclamation. And Wallis Snowdon reports that future loans won't make up for the damage done to Alberta landowners by the operators of derelict oil wells.

- Finally, Roger Harrabin reports on research which (not surprisingly) concludes that the richest people bear the most responsibility for contributing to climate change.

Tuesday Night Cat Blogging

A dearly departed Tigger...

...and a mourning feline friend.

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- Owen Jones writes that the coronavirus is offering a stark lesson in how inequality kills:

The coronavirus pandemic is about to collide with this engine of inequality. The super-rich are fleeing on private jets to luxury boltholes in foreign climes, while the well-to-do may deploy their private health insurance to circumvent our already struggling and soon to be overrun National Health Service. Meanwhile, Britain’s army of precarious workers have nowhere to hide, including from employment that puts their health at risk. Uber drivers, Deliveroo riders, cleaners: all in low-paid jobs, often with families to feed. Many will feel they have no choice but to keep working. While many middle-class professionals can protect themselves by working from home, supermarket shelves cannot be stacked remotely, and the same applies from factory workers to cleaners. How many could truly afford to live on £94.25 a week, which is our country’s paltry statutory sick pay?
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We know that depression and stress weaken our immune systems, and the research is clear: those on low incomes are disproportionately likely to suffer from poor mental health. Poor diet is another factor, and one that is strongly linked to poverty. What, too, of our most impoverished, those who are homeless with poor nutrition, weaker immune systems and a lack of access to good hygiene? And what happens to the 1.5 million children eligible for free school meals if our education sector is temporarily closed? Many could soon find themselves with hungry bellies.
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A decade of austerity, and a social order that deprives millions of citizens of a comfortable existence, will mean many more deaths in the coming weeks and months that could have been avoided. The government’s determination to discover a vaccine for coronavirus must be accompanied by a renewed commitment to addressing poverty. Like every crisis, this one is likely to affect working-class and poor people worst. That is not inevitable. It’s a choice – and one within our power to stop, if only we had the will to do so.

- Jon Parsons writes that our response to the pandemic needs to be based on an ethic of collective care. Ian Welsh offers his take on what we can expect from the coronavirus and its aftermath. Ella Bedard, John No and Amy Brubacher discuss the need for additional supports for workers in order for social distancing to be effective. Rossana Rodriguez, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, Byron Sigcho Lopez, Daniel La Spata and Jeanette Taylor note that the holes in the social safety net being exposed now signal the urgent need for enduring systemic change.

- Both Campbell Clark and Jerry Dias highlight the need for our political leaders to do more rather than less in the face of a crisis which gets exponentially worse for every day it's left unaddressed. And Jacques Gallant and Alyshah Hasham point out how incarcerated populations stand to be particularly hard hit if the pandemic reaches them.

- Caroline Orr notes that the war on truth by the wealthy and powerful has made it all the more difficult to inform the public and get people to act in response to a pandemic. Andrew Nikiforuk connects corporate globalization to the spread of the coronavirus. Carl Meyer reports on the activist push to ensure that Canada's policy response doesn't focus solely on further enriching the wealthy. And Scott Duke Kominers discusses how big business is exploiting the crisis through price gouging on sanitizer and other needed products - and isn't seeing the same public opprobrium as the individuals doing the same.

- Finally, the CCPA's Alternative Federal Budget offers a plan to protect workers and the public, while transitioning to a more secure and sustainable society. And Avi Lewis points out how a Green New Deal represents an ideal plan for rebuilding and modernizing our economy in the wake of the coronavirus.

Monday Morning Links

Miscellaneous material to start your week.

- Emmanuez Saez and Gabriel Zucman call for (PDF) governments to act as buyers of last resort to minimize the economic fallout from the coronavirus. Andrew Jackson offers his take on the appropriate public policy response to ensure that workers' incomes aren't decimated at the worst possible time, while David Macdonald points out how different types of workers stand to be affected in radically different ways. And Sara Mojtehezadeh reports on the plight of lower-income workers who lack paid sick leave.

- Anne Appelbaum discusses how the spread of the coronavirus challenges some of the U.S.' most fervently-held beliefs about itself. Robert Reich laments the destruction of the U.S.' public health system just as it's needed most. And Max Fisher and Emma Bubola point out how the crisis will both affect people differently based on existing inequality, and exacerbate that inequality.

- Andre Picard is hopeful that social solidarity will see us through. But the Globe and Mail's editorial board writes that we'll need to do everything we can to stop the spread of the virus - not delay in the hope that anything will resolve itself.

- Finally, Jenna Moon examines the many occasions risking the transmission of the coronavirus in the course of a single morning commute. And Ambrose Evans-Pritchard takes note of the obvious dangers to health care workers.